Baker Hughes: Weekly North America Rig Count Down 21 

SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) – North American energy drilling activity tumbled by 21 rigs this week, adding to the prior week’s 6-rig decline, according to Baker Hughes’ weekly rig count report released Friday (3/20).

The report showed the regional rig count at 729 in the current week, compared to 750 recorded the previous week. Rigs for Canada and the U.S. combined were lower than the 773 actively deployed in the same week of last year.

As with recent trends, this week’s change was almost entirely driven by Canada, where rigs fell by 20 to reach 177.

The U.S. rig count itself fell by one, making up the regional decline of 21.

On the U.S. side, rigs in inland waters and offshore were unchanged, at two and 12, respectively.  Rigs on land fell by one to 538.

By trajectory, directional rigs in the U.S. slid by one to 53. Horizontal rigs remained rose by two to 487 while vertical rigs slid by two to stand at 10.

Year-over-year, the weekly U.S. rig count dropped by 41 to 553, compared to the 593 reported for the same week of last year.